Many people ask - do I need transactions? Why do I need them? When to use them?
The answer is simple: use them all the time, unless you have a very good reason not to (for instance, don't use atomic transactions for "long running activities" between...

The new results posted by Dell running SQL Server 2005 with COM+/DTC tops TPC-C by Price/Performance with .99 US$ price/tpmC: http://www.tpc.org/tpcc/results/tpcc_price_perf_results.asp
I can't wait to see some results with SQL Server 2005 combined...

As you probably know from my old posts, I log into my Windows computers with a normal user account (I’m not an Administrator and I’m not a Power User).
I recently came across a nice switch for Windows Explorer: “/separate”. It allows me to run Windows...

In today's world, security hardening is causing many headaches to software developers and admins. Especially when you have an application that needs to go beyond the boundaries of the local machine. MSDTC is a distributed app by definition and thus, getting...

If you are at PDC this year, don't forget to attend the sessions related to transactions. An easy way to find these sessions is to go to http://commnet1.microsoftpdc.com/content/sessions.aspx and search by Keyword="transaction".
I especially recommend...

The WS specifications related to Transactions (WS-Coordination, WS-AtomicTransaction and WS-BusinessActivity) have just been updated. They are available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/webservices/webservices/understanding/specs/default.aspx?pull=/library...

Some transaction related sample code using Indigo is shown at http://winfx.msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/indigo_samples/html/1a9842a3-e84d-427c-b6ac-6999cbbc2612.asp
Assuming that you already have the latest released WinFX build installed ( http...

"Indigo" and "Avalon" Beta1 RC are available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B789BC8D-4F25-4823-B6AA-C5EDF432D0C1&displaylang=en . More info can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/Longhorn and http://msdn...

A key feature that targets performance in System.Transactions is the Promotable Single Phase Enlistment. It allows a durable resource manager (RM) to host and "own" a transaction that can later be promoted to a distributed transaction (or MSDTC transaction...

A "hidden" feature available in System.Transactions is the Lightweight Transaction Manager (LTM). It provides support for light weight transactions that live in the current appdomain. The LTM acts as a façade layer for all the transactions started in...

Please don't hesitate to send me your suggestions or questions or topics you would like to be discussed in this blog. You can post a comment to this post or use http://blogs.msdn.com/florinlazar/contact.aspx to let me know. I'll prioritize the list and...

In order to allow Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1 to talk to a remote MSDTC located in a cluster, the security level for MSDTC needs to be set to "Incoming Caller Authentication Required". (see http://blogs.msdn.com/florinlazar/archive/2004...

You've found a bug in a Microsoft product, and you don't know where to report it? Use MSDN Product Feedback Center http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/productfeedback/default.aspx to submit it. You can collaborate with Microsoft developers, MVPs, and beta testers...

My team is "live" on TV again. Steve is giving a quick "how-to" write an Indigo service and client on MSDN TV: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdntv/episode.aspx?xml=episodes/en/20050407INDIGOSS/manifest.xml

Let me start with a short story. I presented a while ago to some of my friends how cool System.Transactions and its TransactionScope are and how easy it is to use transactions with this object model. Not long after that, they got back too me very upset...

Ambient transactions are defined as transactions that live in the current thread or object context that anybody interested can query for their existence and use them to do work as part of them. Their existence means that the user wants to do a series...

Transacted code blocks are a group of actions that occur as part of a transaction. With its atomic property, the transaction guarantees that "all or none" of these actions are taking place.
Think of transacted blocks as something similar to:
transacted...

March 2005 Indigo CTP is now available to download for MSDN Subscribers at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/default.aspx
This should also be available to the broad public soon.
For more information, go to the Longhorn developer center ( http...

Please welcome Jim Johnson to the blog world: http://pluralsight.com/blogs/jimjohn/
Jim is the architect of our transactions team and I'm very excited to see him sharing more of his insights in a blog.
Every time I talk with Jim, he opens more and...

The new MSN Search engine is simply ignoring my blog: http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=%22Florin+Lazar%22&FORM=QBHP
Any other search engine will point the first hit to http://blogs.msdn.com/florinlazar but MSN Search seems to skip my page...